Posted February 24, 2026
Dear SKCEE Families,
Happy February!
I wanted to thank you all for making my birthday so special. The warm wishes, hugs, love, and the special book the students made for me truly made the celebration amazing.
Speaking of love, this is the month when we get to celebrate love and friendship, and as Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio reminded us yesterday, “The only thing more powerful than hate is love.” Please know how much we love your children and your families, and how lucky and grateful we feel to have the privilege of welcoming you all into our school community every day.
On Thursday, February 12th, we will have an all day Friendship Festival during student specials. Thank you to our PTA for the creativity, commitment, and support! If you do want to have your child bring Valentine cards for classmates, please feel free to send them, but remember, we are a 100% nut free school, and ask that you don’t send sugary sweets.
In February we also recognize Black History Month, Lunar New Year, and Ramadan. See below for some resources to honor these events in your homes.
We will be completing our monthly fire drill and our required second semester lockdown drill on Tuesday, February 17th in the morning. The children are accustomed to fire drills, but the lockdown may be new, or different for them. Please know we inform the children that we are practicing to keep ourselves and our school safe, but we do not go in depth about why we need to be prepared for a lockdown emergency. Students will hear “locks, lights, out of sight” on the school speaker, and adults take them to their designated safe space within the classrooms. The DPS Safety officer and I walk the building checking that doors are locked and peeking in windows. After the protocol we share feedback with the adults if we need to make any adjustments to the process. While the thought of the tragedies that require us to practice this protocol break my heart, and cause a multitude of emotions for staff, families, and some students, please know we train for emergencies, and all SKCEE staff are First Aid and CPR certified, which is unique to a school. Our first priority is student safety, and this helps us keep our community safe.
Lastly, I’m excited to share that I received a scholarship to attend the Innovative Schools Summit in New York City at the end of this month. I will be out of the building for three days, and I look forward to bringing my learning back to the SKCEE community. Life long learning and continuous growth and improvement are important to me as a leader and educator, and I’m grateful for this opportunity.
With Love,
Principal Shelley
From Nurse Eve:
Stephen Knight is continuing to see an increase in illnesses in our school. Our school is continuing to have cases of Influenza A (the seasonal flu), non-specific respiratory infections, and gastrointestinal illnesses (vomiting and/or diarrhea). As of 2/2/2026, Children’s Hospital Colorado is seeing a continued rise in RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus). We are tracking and monitoring illness throughout our school and working closely with the Denver Department of Public Health.
This is a reminder that students must continue to stay home until they are 48 hours fever-free without the use of fever-reducing medication AND their illness symptoms are improving. Students must also continue to stay home until 48 hours after their last episode of vomiting or diarrhea.
Fever is a temperature of 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If your student has a fever, new or severe cough, vomiting, or diarrhea, please keep them home. If your student is not feeling well to participate in usual activities (overly tired or fussy due to illness or recovering from illness) please keep them home. If your student has illness symptoms, which can be any combination of fever, cough, runny nose, congestion, fatigue, chills, body aches, and/or headache, please keep them home. Keeping your sick preschooler home from a group care setting is essential for the health of your child, their classmates, and the staff. In a group environment, germs spread rapidly through shared toys and close contact. A sick child requires more attention than staff can provide in a preschool group care setting, and a sick child will not benefit from the preschool day.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding illness or your student missing school, please reach out to Principal Shelley or Nurse Eve. Eve is happy to answer any specific questions you may have regarding your sick student on a case by case basis – feel free to give her a call at 720-424-6555 or send an email to evelyn_valiquette@dpsk12.net.
A reminder that we serve 340 students, 265 of whom must park and walk in with their children to sign them in, and must do the same at dismissal to sign them out and accompany them to parked cars. We have been struggling lately with poor etiquette in the parking lot and surrounding streets. Please remember, we serve the youngest DPS learners, and safety is our first priority. We have a window for arrival and dismissal to allow for our ECE families to park in approved spots and bring children in, and our Kindergarten kiss and go supports our families with traffic flow and staying in the car to drop off and pick up SKCEE Butterflies. Please do not spot in fire lanes, and if you don’t see room to park, make a loop and try again. We promise to keep your child safe with us in the office until you are able to find a spot.
Generally speaking, retention is not a common practice in Denver Public Schools, or at SKCEE. In certain instances it can be approved through a process with the family, teachers, and myself (Principal). Here is a link to an article from NAEYC regarding school readiness for the young child. After reviewing these resources, if you have questions, please see Shelley.
Key Considerations for Retention for ECE:
Kindergarten Retention determination:
District staff shall consider and document each of the following factors:
After considering and documenting the above factors, the principal shall make a recommendation whether to retain the student. However, a student shall not be retained unless the principal has made such a recommendation and the student’s parents/guardians agree with the recommendation.
Our ECE 3 and 4 students are taking the lead on their learning this month! Each classroom is designing a unit of study based on the unique interests of their students. Teachers have spent the last couple weeks observing their children to see where their interests lie. From Storytelling to Trains, Superheroes to Outerspace, our classrooms will begin to reflect the curiosities of our learners. Keep an eye out as each classroom transforms as they follow the lead of the children!
Hi families!
In Kindergarten we have wrapped up a few units. We are learning about digraphs (/ch/, /sh/, /th/) in our new Skills unit. We are also continuing practicing our reading skills through our reading groups. We have been working hard on our spelling using strategies such as fingerspelling to help with our independent writing.
We have also started a new Knowledge unit, Kings and Queens. We are learning about what kings, queens, and royal families are in addition to focusing on the main idea and details of stories. At the end of our unit we will have a Cinderella Week focusing on Cinderella stories from different cultures around the world!
In math we are moving on from addition and subtraction to decomposing numbers. We will be focusing on breaking apart numbers to identify different ways we can build numbers 1-10.
February is an exciting and busy month in PE. We will learn about heart health and noticing heart rate and exercise intensity while incorporating some Valentines and sportsmanship themes. We will also have some Winter Olympic themed stations. At the end of the month, we will begin our Bowling unit. This is always a student-favorite! Maybe plan a family bowling night for your child to show off their skills? Ms. Sara
Studio 111 Fun!
Many artists show their love of nature in their art; all students embraced winter in the art studio with colors and projects to celebrate our coldest season. Along the way, we learned about the horizon line and told winter stories. Students printed, fingerpainted and explored the work of Paul Klee, who uses many shapes in his colorful cityscapes. Art usually is sent home pretty soon after it’s made; ask your child how they made it or to tell you what’s happening in their piece. Kindergarteners are beginning to make sculptures using various mediums. Keep an eye open for sculptures in the city or your home to help connect our learning to your child’s life experiences. I look forward to heart art as we begin February. Art class is a great place to make presents for those we love! Come by or email (cookie_caskie@dpsk12.net) if you are interested in helping out in the art studio! Warmly, Cookie
Black History is US History, and should be observed in authentic, embedded ways throughout the year. February is officially Black History Month, which gives us a time to be even more intentional with representation and the celebration of black excellence. Here are some links to resources:
Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture has an Early Education page with resources.
DPP preschool Black History Resources
Celebrating Black History Month with preschoolers and kindergarteners is all about focusing on joy, innovation, and foundational “superpowers” like courage, creativity, and kindness. At this age, the goal is to make history feel tangible and excellence feel attainable. Here is a curated list of resources and activities to highlight Black excellence in the classroom.
Tips for Teachers & Parents
The Lunar New Year will be celebrated on February 17th this year! It is the year of the Horse. Celebrated across East/Southeast Asia and globally, it signifies spring’s arrival, family reunions, and fresh beginnings. Key traditions include red decorations, fireworks, and red envelopes (hongbao) for luck.
The Ramadan start date for 2026 is expected to fall around 17 February (with the possible variation of a few days) following the sighting of the moon over Mecca or respective countries. Lasting for 29 or 30 days, Ramadan 2026 will end around 19 March, with the celebratory days of Eid al-Fitr estimated to start around 20 March, again with a possible difference of a couple of days.
There’s no PTA meeting this month so check out our newsletter, linked here, for updates and upcoming events and don’t forget to follow us on Instagram @skceefamilies to stay in the loop with the latest updates and events!
February 12: Friendship Festival
February 16: Presidents Day, No School
February 17: Spring Emergency Drills
February 24: Campus Lounge Dine Out 4-10pm
February 27: DPS Teacher Planning Day, No School for Students